Essence of Self
by Kittylin15
Summary: While breaking into Malfoy Manor to retrieve an item, Harry decides to break Malfoy out with him after he ends up saving his life. The Slytherin ends up joining them on their Horcrux hunt after a few hurtles to gain their trust. The blonde and brunet grow closer behind locked doors. SLASH (Will write better summary later)
1. Lock

So this is a story I started in the summer when I needed a break from working on a freelance illustration job. I just sat down and started to write down a random idea I had. After a few weeks I continued working on it whenever i felt stuck on a different story or needed stress relief.

I considered it my writers block story. It wasn't until a couple months later I realized I had written over 65 pages. Then I started to take it seriously and made sure the plot made sense. After working on it for a few months I decided it was time to share it with the world. I really love what I came up with.

This story takes place in the seventh year but I didn't want to follow the book too much. I find it boring when I read a fanfition and they are just repeating what already happened. I only kept things I really liked or mad e reference. I created my own situations for how they find the horcuxes. I've really enjoyed other Draco joined the horcrux hunt story and wanted to try my own.

For the longest time I called it my Horcrux story. After looking through the article on Harry Potter Wiki on horcruxes I came up a couple ideas for a title. I ended up calling it _Essence of Self_ because there was a quote that described the soul that way. I found it very fitting and stuck with it.

Now that I have a title for my story I felt ready to publish it. There is a lot more to come so stay tuned.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Essence of Self<strong>

**Lock**

**o0o**

Not returning to Hogwarts was the right idea, no matter how dissatisfied Molly Weasley was about them not finishing there schooling. They had a lot more important things to do than finish their NEWTS. After Bill's wedding was crashed by death eaters they set out to begin their hunt but the problem was they didn't know where to start looking.

Because Harry had wanted posters up he knew they couldn't go out in the open in the wizarding world. They decided it would be best to head back to Grimmauld place. Even if Snape could still get in it was unlikely that he would do so. It was as safe a place to be than any.

Stepping into the entrance hall they looked around curiously. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. Harry could see that Kreacher had not been doing his job. It was reverting back to the condition it was in before the Order had taken over it because of the little care it was given.

"I guess we'll just use the same rooms as last time." Hermione suggested breaking the silence.

"I'd rather not have to share a room with Ron if I don't have to." Harry exclaimed with a flat tone.

"I forgot you two were sharing." Hermione whispered, since it felt like it had been a long time since they were here even though it had only been since last summer. When the Order of the Phoenix was here every bedroom was occupied and they had to bunk people together. She had to share with Ginny.

"What's wrong with sharing a room with me?" Ron asked with an offended tone.

"You snore like a trucker." Harry exclaimed sarcastically. Having six years of sharing a dorm with Ron he had never grown used to the noise as he slept. Since his four poster had curtains he cast a sonorous charm on them to block out any sound. He couldn't do in the bedroom.

"What's that?" Ron asked completely confused by the muggle reference.

"I think I'm going to take Sirius's room." Harry grabbed his stuff and started up the stairs. He didn't feel like explaining muggle technology right now.

"Race yeah." Ron pushed passed his friend which set him off. They both tried to beat each other to the top of the stairs first.

"Let's meet in the library once everyone is settled." Hermione called after the two boy's. Rolling her eyes at the antics as she followed them up.

.

Harry pushed open the door to Sirius's childhood bedroom. No matter how long his godfather was gone he would always consider the space his. He hadn't had the heart to move any of his things. All the muggle posters were still up on the walls. Some would call him too sentimental.

when Harry looked around the room he found all the surfaces were covered with dust. He was sure the rest of the house was in a similar state. Kreacher had really fallen behind on the job. They would have to spend a couple days making Grimmauld place livable again.

With a couple flicks of his wand Harry set the room quickly back to rights.

Pulling out is shrunken trunk out of his pocket he restored it to its proper size. Harry decided against actually unpacking. He pulled out a change of clothes, once he was changed Harry went to meet the others.

...

They gathered in the library to brainstorm.

"Ok, what do we know of the horcruxes so far?" Hermione asked with a quill and parchment in front of her to write down anything they came up with. She found when you were stuck it was always a good idea to go over the facts again. It helped to figure out what you missed.

Harry wasn't sure why they were doing this but he would go along with it for now. "So far only two have been destroyed. The diary in second year and the ring Dumbledor took care of. Too bad the locket was a fake or that would've made three." He grumbled unhappily. They had gone through all that only to be thrown off at the last step.

"The locket?" Hermione whispered to herself as she contemplated the horcruxes. The description Harry had given after Dumbledor had shown him the pensive memories was bugging her. "You said it had Slytherin's initials on it, right?"

"Yeah it had a large ornate SS on it in the memory the headmaster showed me." Harry confirmed the items description to her. If it was so much work just to find this one how hard would the other four be?

"I've seen that before. I saw it here, last summer." Hermione pointed down to the floor of the old house of Black.

"Now that you mention it I think I have too." Ron agreed with a wide smile on his face. "It was that locket we couldn't get open." All this time it was right under their noses.

"Yes." Hermione wanted to hit herself. She felt so stupid it took so long for her to make the connection. Ron even realized before her.

"I remember Mundungus Fletcher snatched it along with a lot of the Black silver." Harry thought back to when they were clearing out the house to make it more livable last summer. "Hopefully the man didn't sell it yet or at least he remembered who to." He sighed thinking about the wild goose chase that was ahead of them.

"I don't think Mundungus ever got the chance." Hermione said thoughtfully. Her friends looked at her questionably. "Kreacher was snatching as much of the Black family heir looms as he could back then. I'm sure he has it. If it was important at all to a Black family member Kreacher would have it."

"Kreacher!" Harry growled the elf's name like it was something vile. The house elf popped into existence at his master's call. "Where did you take the locket?" He barked out immediately.

There was no question anymore if the house elf had the item in when his eyes narrowed and he hissed in displeasure.

Harry knows Kreacher knew exactly what they were talking about. "I order you to tell me where it is?"

"I have taken it to a safe place." Kreacher crossed his arms defensively. Raising his nose in the air as if to look down on his master even though he only came up to his knee. Copying the actions of his snotty pure blood masters they suspected.

"Where did you bring the locket?!" Harry grabbed the elf buy the front of his pillow case and lifted him off the ground. The little legs kicked in the air and his spindly fingers tried to pry his hands away. He held the elf at eye level to try and get across how serious he was about this.

"Harry put him down, now!" Hermione cried in shock at the harassment to the poor creature. Harry dropped the elf at her admonishment. Kreacher hit the floor hard since he wasn't expecting it. "Kreacher where did you take the locket?" Hermione tried asking kindly kneeling beside the house elf.

"Mud bloods and blood traitors." Kreacher mumbled and grumbled to himself as he climbed to his feet and brushed off the dirt. The room hadn't been cleaned in a long while.

"Tell me or you might be joining the wall sooner than expected." Harry was referring to the wall of severed house elf heads. It was a horrible Black family tradition.

"I brought it to Malfoy manor, to Mistress Narcissa. One of the last true descendants' of the Great House of Black." Kreacher finally admitted in a tone like he was pleased with his actions.

"Malfoy…" Harry started to say before biting his lip in frustration. This was the worst case scenario. Malfoy Manor would have very strong wards that would make it near impossible to enter besides the death eaters that would be guarding the premises.

"We have no choice but to go in and get it." Harry said with conviction in his voice. In his head he was already forming a plan of action.

"That's very risky." Hermione believed, always the cautious one.

"It's not just going to walk itself out of there. We have no choice." Harry replied back cynically.

"I guess you're right." Hermione admitted in defeat. "But we are going to make a proper plan before we do anything too dangerous."

"How are we going to get in?" Ron asked making the other two deflate. They had their first hurtle.

Malfoy Manor was one of the oldest buildings in the wizarding world though it had nothing on Hogwarts. Its wards were ancient and had levels upon levels of wards to keep out unwanted visitors. With each generation the Malfoy ancestors had added to its defenses.

"I'll just have to do some research on wards." Hermione stood up from her chair. She got straight to work scanning the spins of the library books. Pulling out works that looked useful from the shelves. Pure blood families had some pretty foul wards that were dark in nature. She wished they could just bypass them completely some how.

Harry and Ron stood up since they knew how Hermione got when she went in to research mode they both slipped out. It was already really late into the night and it had been a tiring day of travel.

.0.

As soon as Harry's head hit the pillow he was asleep.

_~When Harry came to he wondered where he was. The room had a high ceiling and stone pillars. It was like a smaller version of the great hall from Hogwarts. He must be in one of the pure blood's grand homes._

This seemed like more than just a dream. Harry cursed that he was trapped in another vision.

_"You used to be my right hand man." He could hear Voldemort's voice exclaim but could not see him meaning he was looking through the dark lord's eyes. "I used to have such high hopes for you. How disappointing you turned out to be"_

_"Yes Master." Lucius Malfoy groveled on the floor for forgiveness. _

_"How should I punish you?" Voldemort asked himself. Harry could feel the pleasure of toying with his prey._

_"Anyway you wish." Lucius replied submissively as if he thought the dark lord would be more lenient._

_"Bring in the younger Malfoy." Voldemort exclaimed snapping his fingers. A door at the side was suddenly opened. His sharp eyes caught how the blonde man's body tensed._

_Harry saw Draco Malfoy dragged into the room by Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf threw the blonde teen to the floor in the middle of the room just a few feet back from where his father was crouched. Nagina slithered over and_ circled Draco keeping him in place.

_"That is all. You can leave." Voldemort flicked his wrist as if he was dismissing his subject. __Suddenly the field of view was different as if Voldemort had just stood up from a chair. He could feel the body swiftly moving down a small flight of stairs_

_Then Draco Malfoy's face was super close. Harry could see every eyelash and even that there was a very light group of freckles across his aristocratic nose. __The grey eyes widened in shock, he could truly see fear in them as his chin was cupped.__"So delicate." Voldemort spoke as he examined the slender teen in front of him. Using his finger he push his nail into the soft skin of the boy's cheek making it bleed. He licked the blood off his finger. "So pure."_

_Harry could taste what Voldemort tasted. It was coppery but still pleasant to the palette._

_"The Malfoy line is supposed to be the most pure wizard blood line in existence." Voldemort sneered as he circled the father and son. Draco tried to sit up but the dark lord shoved him in the chest so he fell back to the marble floor hard. __"But so weak." _

_This did not look good Harry thought to himself as he felt the body he was inhabiting pull out their wand._

_"Blood such as yours should not be spilled so carelessly." With a flick of his wand Malfoy was writing in pain at his feet. Cries of agony left his lips that he couldn't hold in._

_"Please my Lord." Lucius begged for his son's sanity. If Draco was held under for much longer he may break._

Harry tried to will himself awake. He wanted to escape this.

_Releasing the spell Voldemort turned on his heel and retook his throne. Harry could feel how Voldemort felt the boy was more useful in one piece._

_Harry could see how Lucius took his sons head in his lap and stroked his hair. Draco was unconscious from the torture._

_Voldemort turned to address Malfoy senior. "Tomorrow I have an errand I need to run, you and your wife will accompany me."_

"_Yes my lord." Lucius nodded in understanding._

_"I'll give you one more chance to prove your worth to me Lucius." Voldemort warned. His vision blurred meaning that the dark lord was glaring. "If you don't your precious son will take the blame." _A weak cutting curse was thrown at the young Malfoy hitting him in the shoulder blade. The boy let out a hiss of pain. It sliced his shirt open and some blood started to darken the fabric.

_Voldemort thought his warning was clear of what would befall his heir if he stepped out of line. There was a feeling of strong disgust. 'People who had a weakness were so easy to control' Harry could hear strongly in his mind. It was what Voldemort thought which is why he could never understand how powerful love could be. _

_Lucius's son was his blind spot and his greatest weakness. The young Malfoy had failed him but he still had some use. If he threatened the Malfoy heir's safety he could get anything he wanted from the patriarch. The Malfoy Manor and the Malfoy fortune would be his to do with as he pleased as long as this boy was within his reach._

.

Harry gasped awake sitting up in bed. He panted and grabbed at his head. His scar was burning in pain. His sweat had soaked through his pajamas.

'A vision.' Harry thought in amazement. He recognized the feeling from years past. It wasn't just any dream since he was seeing what had actually happened.

He hadn't seen into Voldemort's mind in a long while. It was only when he was experiencing strong emotions did it occur. This wasn't anger this time though; it was pleasure- pleasure at Malfoy's pain.

Climbing out of his bed Harry grabbed some clean clothes and went to the bathroom. He couldn't fall asleep again in this condition. At least he hadn't puked this time.

The old pipes creaked when he turned the taps.

His hands shook as he tried to undress himself. Tired of trying to undo the buttons Harry ripped the top over his head and slid the bottoms down. Once he was nude he stepped over the rim of the tub.

He sighed in relief when the hot water hit his skin. Harry immersed himself under the spray of the shower head. He closed his eyes trying to forget about what happened in his vision.

Was it just a coincidence that he saw Malfoy manor. They had just been talking about raiding the manor earlier this evening to get the locket out. It hadn't occurred to him earlier that if they did he might run into Malfoy himself. He had been putting all his hate towards Snape and he hadn't spared a thought about Draco Malfoy.

Harry hadn't gave a thought about what Malfoy must be going through. The boy had failed an order from the dark lord so he must have been punished. He almost felt sorry for the Slytherin. Malfoy had gotten himself into that situation though. He couldn't pick his family though. The tables had been switched from his parent's life being used to control him to his own life.

Harry remembered Malfoy crying in the bathroom last year. The hopelessness he felt. He tried to banish the image from his mind.

Same as every other time, Harry felt dirty after experiencing Voldemort's feeling and point of view. Harry tried to wash himself clean, both physically and mentally.

...

After lying in bed for hours unable to sleep Harry finally decided to climb out of the warm covers once the sun rose.

Surprisingly he ran into Ron in the hall. They both nodded to each other as they climbed down the stairs.

When Harry opened the cupboards to look for food he found them to be sorely lacking. They were sparsely stocked and most of the food had gone bad or soured in the cold cupboard. "We need to go shopping."

Ron's stomach grumbled loudly in protest at the lack of food. "Agreed." For someone who had access to his mother's cooking or the food at Hogwarts this feeling of deep hunger was an unusual feeling.

The only thing good in the cupboards was coffee because it had no expiration date. They sipped dejectedly at the dark beverage because they had no milk or cream to go with it. Thinking they could doused it in sugar only to find some moisture had gotten in and clumped the whole thing together.

Once it became confirmed that Snape was on the other side the Order had decided to stop using the house as headquarters for a bit. Dumbledor had been the only person who knew the identity of the secret keeper so they did not know who had the power to keep the ex-potion master out.

Until a new secret keeper would be picked to change the exceptions it was considered to be unsecured.

The wound of Dumbledor's death was still too fresh in everyone's minds. The members wished to spend some time with their families and loved ones. They would gather again, and soon. Harry didn't think they would have the house to themselves for long.

A frazzled Hermione barged into the kitchen. "I think I've figured out a loop hole." She claimed placing a book on the table that Ron had to save his coffee from being knocked over from. It was the only nourishment he had so it was precious.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Harry asked suspiciously looking at her unusual disheveled appearance. Her hair was reminiscing of their early Hogwarts years.

"No I couldn't sleep." Hermione answered as she flipped the tomb open and thumbed to find the right page. "House elf magic is different from ours. As long as they have been there before they would be able to bring us through the wards."

The two males stared blankly at her.

"Don't you see? It's the answer to our problem." Hermione said with enthusiasm.

"That's great and all but we don't exactly have a Malfoy house elf here with us." Ron said disgruntled.

"We don't need one. Kreacher has been through the wards before." Hermione gave them a pointed look.

"But he isn't trust worthy at all." Harry said sorry to break her bubble. Kreacher was the one that betrayed Sirius to the Malfoy family two years ago. There was no way he could trust the elf not to do so once more.

"You're right. He'll more than likely feed you to Nagina than be any help." Hermione sighed tiredly.

"Dobby." Ron said as he watched her try to think while sleep deprived.

"What she asked as she took a sip of the red heads coffee to help kick start her brain. She clearly wasn't thinking logically.

"Didn't he used to be owned by Malfoy's father?" Ron pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course." Harry smiled brightly as the plan slid into place in his head. "Dobby would do anything for me. I could call him here from Hogwarts."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione pouted, berating herself.

"Well I had hours of sleep last night so don't feel too bad." Ron patted her on the shoulder. "Now Harry has no excuse. He went to bed before I did."

"It's the morning. I don't function well before noon." Harry retorted groggily.

"You should go get some sleep." Ron suggested to the frazzled girl.

"You're right." Hermione headed upstairs to bed.

They were left alone to enjoy their meager breakfast.

"Do you think Malfoy will be there?" Ron contemplated out loud.

"Which one?" Harry asked with a roll of his eyes. At his friends glare he sighed. "I'm sure Draco will be there. What we really have to worry about though is the unknown death eaters who might also be occupying the manor."

...

Once they were done eating they moved to the library.

Hermione joined them after a short nap. Her mind was working too much for her to fall into a deep sleep. "So we now found a way to get into Malfoy manor." She exclaimed nervously.

"Before we do that, we have to find out where Kreacher hid the locket first." Harry exclaimed. He summoned the house elf to interrogate him.

"Be very careful how you order Kreacher. "Hermione forewarned him. "Don't leave any loop holes for him to betray you."

Harry nodded in understanding. When the house elf in question popped up in front of him he immediately dived in. "You can't leave this house or talk to anyone outside of us three about anything that you here us saying."

"As my master commands." Kreacher gave a mock bow to show disrespect. They knew the house elf couldn't disobey a direct order.

"Where exactly in the house did you leave the locket?" Harry probed for the location. "I'm your master you can't disobey me."

Kreacher tried to fight the impulse to obey his master but it was too great. "Mrs. Narcissa was in a meeting so as not to disturb her I placed the locket on her dresser." The elf replied with a deep exhalation.

"That's all I needed to know." Harry smirked down at the elf. "Dobby!" Harry called to the air.

In ten seconds flat an elf wearing a knitted sweater with a kitten on it and socks was in front of him. The two house elf starred each other down. They hadn't had to work together since Harry had them follow Malfoy around last school year.

"You're dismissed." Harry informed Kreacher since he had gotten all the information he could use from him. Kreacher made a face behind his master's back then aparated back to the kitchen.

"Dobby can you explain to me the layout of the manor." Ron asked. Originally the elf tried to explain verbally but it was just talking in circles. Instead he had Dobby draw him a diagram. Looking over the 4 floors with a furrowed brow. "So the master bedroom is on the 4th floor?"

"Yes." Dobby nodded enthusiastically. "The master bedroom is the only room protected against house elf magic."

"Really, why?" Harry asked curiously.

"They like us to knock before entering." Dobby replied with a blush across his cheeks. They didn't even want to speculate what happened in the past to cause that reaction.

"When should we do this?" Hermione asked with apprehension. "We don't know who is going to be there. For all we know Voldemort himself could be present."

"It has to be tomorrow." Harry exclaimed adamantly. "Voldemort will be out of the Manor."

"How do you know?" Ron asked. Since they no longer had a spy on the other side, they no longer received warnings like that from the Order.

"Did you have another vision?" Hermione accused with her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you tell us?" She snapped.

"It happened last night. Voldemort isn't very happy with the Malfoy's right now." Harry explained sighing deeply. Draco Malfoy had still been one of their class mates. It was hard not to have some feelings for the Slytherin. It was weird to think of a world without Draco Malfoy in it.

"We're going to do this in broad day light." Ron gasped in surprise. Whenever he thought about breaking into a house he thought about doing it in the shadow of the night.

"Death eaters thrive at night." Harry exclaimed the reason behind his decision. "We also can't risk that Voldemort coming back early.

"Gather everything you think we may need. Go to bed early. You need to get lots of rest so that you'll be prepared tomorrow." Harry ordered his friends. He would try to follow his own advice.

o0o

With a pop they appeared in a lavish hallway.

Harry released his hold on Dobby as he examined their location. It appeared they were in a hallway on at least the second story judging from the view from the window. There was extravagant interior lining the hall that ranged from paintings, plants, and armor.

"Which way?" Ron asked the elf, wanting this to get over and done with so he could get out of here and back to safety.

"Master Lucius's room is up the stairs there." Dobby pointed to a nearby set of stairs that was framed by two suits of armor.

They could hear footsteps coming from don the hall.

Harry scrambled in his bag to grab the invisibility cloak. He hadn't been expecting to run into anyone so soon. He tried to throw it over them but they were all too big to fit under it now. Harry cursed Ron's growth spurt though he knew it wasn't his fault. They had all grown; they weren't first years anymore.

'Crap' was all Harry could think when he looked down and saw their ankles were sticking out in plain view. Realizing he had to do something quickly before they would be discovered. Harry dashed out from under the invisibility cloak.

Hermione grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Where are you going?" She whispered under her breath nervously. Not wanting to be overheard.

"I'll distract them. Just don't worry about me and get the locket." Harry tugged his hand out of her grip and ran down an opposite hallway. Knocking a suit of armor over deliberately to gain their attention.

Hearing the loud clatter hurdled Ron and Hermione into action. They ascended the stairs to the top floor.

Harry flew through the hallways checking to make sure the Death Eaters were following him. Slipping into an alcove he disillusioned himself. Continuing on his path he took the stairs downward and stomped down them so that the Death eaters would follow him. He wanted to lead them as far from his friends as possible.

Panting he slowed his pace. Harry didn't hear anyone pursuing him anymore. He hoped the death eaters had lost his trail. It seemed the manor had been alerted to an intruder. It appeared he had at least succeeded in leading the death eaters away from his friend's location. Now all he had to do was find his way back upstairs without alerting anyone to his position.

Looking Harry tried to figure out where he was. He had just been running blindly not knowing where he was actually going. If it wasn't for the window telling him he was now on the first floor he would think he was in the same hallway from before because it was practically identical.

Knowing he couldn't just stay here Harry started to walk cautiously down the hallway. Every portrait he passed featured a snobbish platinum blonde. He knew that Malfoy had always boasted about generations of wizards in his family but it only hit him now how true it was. The words Voldemort had exclaimed in the vision came back to him. "Purest of pure blood."

"Get away from me." Harry heard a familiar voice drawl. He snuck up to the room he heard the call from. He could see the form of Draco Malfoy being backed up into a corner. It appeared he had found himself in a bad situation.

From where Harry was he thought the man was Avery. He looked familiar from a wanted poster. The name really didn't matter. He knew the man had been at the Department of Mysteries though.

"Your parents aren't here right now to protect you." Avery leered at the teenager. "Aren't so untouchable now." The Death Eater exclaimed as he cupped Malfoy's pale cheek.

Harry whispered a stunner spell under his breath. The man crumpled to the ground and Malfoy looked around with wide eyes. Harry smirked until a spell was cast in his direction that he only just managed to dodge at the last second. Thank god for his fast reflexes from Quidditch. The only problem was that he had jumped into the room.

"Got you now!" Bellatrix Lestrange cried as she slammed the door behind her. She had joined in the search for the intruder. She had just happened to see a spell come from thin air. "Let see who we have here. Finite Incantatem!" His disillusion charm was ripped away exposing his form to the naked eye once more.

"Potter." Malfoy exclaimed in shock at his sudden appearance in what could be considered his living room.

"Diffindo!" Harry cried calling up a shield just in the nick of time. The curse bounced off his shield. Another spell followed it one after another. "Petrificus Totalus." He tried to cast a full body bind but Bellatrix managed to dodge the spell.

"Confringo." Bellatrix Lestrange cackled as she threw spells at him.

Harry had to dodge the blasting curse. He managed to get one Stupefy spell off before he had to hide behind a shield charm once more. The force of the spells made him back up. Harry ended up tripping over a footstool. Really who had footstools anymore?

Bellatrix walked over pointing her wand at his chest. "There's nowhere to go inkle Potter." She cackled as raised her wand and then started to cast. "Avada-"

There was a thump noise and Bellatrix dropped to the ground unconscious.

Behind her Harry could see the form of one Draco Malfoy who was holding an ornate dragon sculpture in his hands that looked like it was made from green jade.

"Oh God. What did I do?" Malfoy dropped the sculpture that rolled away from him. He grabbed his hair messing up the perfect hair style. When Draco had seen his aunt about to cast the killing curse on Potter he had just acted on impulse. "She's going to kill me when she wakes up." Draco mumbled to himself with dread.

Hearing the sound of more Death Eaters coming Harry scrambled to his feet. As a second thought he grabbed Malfoy's hand and dragged him with him. After the Slytherin had just saved his life he didn't feel like he could just leave him to the hands of his aunt.

"Potter, what you are doing?" Draco asked as he struggled to keep up with the chosen one's fast pace. They dashed through the halls of the manor. Portraits of his ancestors glared from their frames as they whipped past.

"Getting us out of here." Harry answered as he tried to find the exit. This house was like a maze. He stopped when the hall forked. "Which way?"

Before Malfoy could answer they ended up having to dodge a blasting curse separating their hold on each other. In the confusion and panic to get away from the threat they both ran in the opposite direction from each other down different halls. Draco to the right and Harry to the left.

Draco ran directly into the chest of Avery. Who tugged him up from the ground by the front of his robes. He had just escaped the man's touch only to run directly into his hold. Luckily there were others around or he didn't know what would have happened to him.

o0o

Draco was pushed into one of the cells none too lightly. He ended up losing his footing and stumbling to land on his hands and knees. "The roughness was completely un-necessary." He mumbled to himself as he made his way to his feet. Brushing the dirt off of his dress pants.

He looked despairingly around his cell. It was unlikely he would be seeing anywhere else anytime soon. 'At least Potter got away.' Draco thought to himself. It had been worth it to save Potter's life. The boy who lived was their only hope to see the end of the Dark Lords tyrannical reign.

Flopping down on the bed in resignation Draco sighed as he looked at the cracked ceiling. He could only hope that his father could talk him out of here once he returned. If Bellatrix didn't label hi a traitor first. Maybe his aunt didn't know it was him who knocked her out. He thought she might have seen him at the last second though because her eyes narrowed so Draco didn't have high hopes.

Not long after he was put there the door opened again and someone else was pushed in. The glasses that slid across the ground were a tell-tale of the person's identity.

"Fuck." Draco swore out loud.

"Malfoy?" Harry asked as he squinted into the dark cell. He leaned down to feel for his glasses. Once the frames were back on his face he could clearly see the ruffled blond sitting on the only bed in the cell.

"Yes it's me!" Draco snapped in irritation. He swore too much if the chosen one could recognize his voice from a dirty word. "This is just perfect. Not only am I in the dungeons of my own ancestral home, but now, I have to share my cell with you." He complained.

"This isn't exactly my cup of tea either." Harry grumbled as he examined their new lodgings. They weren't exactly the greatest but hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with them long. "It isn't the worst thing that could have happened." He shrugged.

"Your only alive right now because the Dark Lord claimed your death. As soon as he arrives, you're dead." Draco snapped at how Potter wasn't taking this situation seriously.

"Not if I'm gone before Tom gets here." Harry replied calmly.

"Who the hell is Tom." Draco asked confused.

"Doesn't matter." Harry dismissed the question not feeling like explaining. He knew that Voldemort had gone through a lot of trouble hiding his parentage from his followers. "Don't worry. I already have a way of escape." Harry sat down on the bed beside the blonde. He leaned back against the wall calm about being imprisoned.

Draco was going to start asking more questions when they heard some movement nearby. "Shhh." Potter put a hand over his mouth to get him to be quite. The Slytherin grumbled unhappily against his palm. His breath warmed the skin of his hand. The footsteps moved past the door of their cell and disappeared. When he noticed he still had his hand over Malfoy's face he blushed and let him go.

When Draco was released he stood up and started to pace back and forth. "This is a fucking bad sitation."This was a really bad situation he had found himself in, all because he couldn't watch his school nemesis die. "Wait maybe being stuck here with you isn't a bad thing. Your Order with send a rescue mission for you." Draco said out loud in contemplation. "I just tag along with you when they come for you."

"You'd really leave with me?" Harry looked intently at the Slytherin who he could see the implications of his desertion flash across his eyes. Remembering his vision; if he could remove Malfoy Lucius might desert hsi master leaving him high and dry.

"I can't leave my parents." Draco exclaimed, he didn't know what the dark lord would do to them if he disappeared.

Harry walked and grabbed the Slytherin by his shoulders. "You don't have much of a choice anymore. When Bellatrix wakes up she'll most likely kill you for your treachery. I'm sure your parents would much rather you stay alive."

"If I stay…" Draco gulped, sighing in resignation running his fingers through his hair. There was only torture in his future if he didn't leave. His aunt would not give him a fast death if she got a hold of him. "Maybe. I don't want this anymore." He exclaimed unsure of his decision.

"Shake on it." Harry held his hand out for the blonde to take. Malfoy looked at his hand warily before he made a decision. The slim hand grasped his hand tightly. It felt like this moment had been postponed for six long years.

"Agreed." When Draco had offered out his hand in first year and Potter had rejected him.

Harry smiled to himself as he looked down at his watch. "That should've given them enough time." They'd been in the dungeon for a good half an hour at least. "Dobby!" He called into thin air.

The house elf popped into existence in the middle of the dingy cell. "Harry Potter is in the dungeons." Dobby said as he realized their location.

"Yes but not for long, because you are going to get us out of here." Harry stood up and stretched out his muscles.

"Us?" Dobby asked looking around for another wizard. "Young Master Malfoy." He said in surprise when he spotted the young son of his former master.

"House elves? You're using house elves to break into the manor." Draco said in surprise. Looking at the strange elf that was wearing clothes. Not just any clothes but two knitted hats, a blue sweater with a kitten face on it, and rainbow striped socks.

"Did you guys get the item we came for?" Harry inquired.

"Yes. Master Weasley and Mistress Granger have it now back at the house." Dobby nodded to himself.

"Good everything went to plan then." Harry smiled in relief. That was one of the horcruxes down.

"To plan! You're in the dungeon." Draco said with his arms crossed.

"You see, I was the distraction so that the death eater's weren't concentrating on what my friends were doing." Harry shrugged off the blonde's irritation. "So it went perfectly to plan."

"What help is he going to be?" Draco asked pointing to the elf. "They are good when you want a cup of tea but what use could a house elf be for breaking out of jail?"

"Never underestimate a house elf." Harry claimed with a confident smirk. "Read this." He handed the blonde a slip of paper.

"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place." Draco read out loud. "What is this? An address." He answered his own question holding up the slip of paper.

Harry took Dobby's small hand into his. "Grab his other hand." When Malfoy made no movement Harry tugged him by his robe close to him and put a hand around his waist. "We're ready." He nodded at the house elf.

"For what?" Draco asked anxiously, turning his head to speak making his nose brush against Potters jaw. 'When did he get taller than me?' He asked himself.

"We are going to aparate out of here." Harry answered with a smirk.

"Apa… there are very strong ward in place against that very thing." Draco snapped loudly straight into his ear.

Harry winced at the loud noise. Hoping no one heard. "A house elves' magic works differently than ours. The wards will do nothing to stop him, while if we tried we would get splinched." He said to reassure the blonde. Malfoy gave him an unsure look.

With a snap of Dobby's little fingers they aparated out of Malfoy Manor dungeons.

**...TBC**


	2. Disinfect

Sorry it took me so long to get the next part up. I started to read Sherlock fanfiction and it totally threw me off. I had this basically written already but was having a hard time editing it so it flowed. Actually had to cut the chapter in half because I thought it moved too fast when I skipped a week ahead and I thought it was getting too long. It ended up the same length in the end once all was said in done anyway.

I got bored while trying to push through so I make the breaks look like cats.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Essence of Self<strong>

_Disinfect  
><em>

**o0o**

Bellatrix stormed down into the Dungeon. "Where is that nephew of mine?" She snapped as she held her head in pain. When she ran her fingers through her hair there was a distinguishing bump on her scalp.

"Draco is in the dungeon along with Harry Potter." Avery answered who had just come up from the basement himself.

"We've captured the Boy Who Lived?" Pettigrew inquired intrigued, he waddled over to hover by the entrance to the dungeon eagerly.

They all descended the stairs and made their way to the area where the cells are kept. Unlocking the door Avery blinked in surprise when he looked inside. Leaning in he looked around to see if he'd just missed he prisoners. "They're gone." He exclaimed speechless.

"What?!" Bellatrix bristled then stalked over. She pushed Pettigrew out of the way and looked in the cell herself. It was completely empty with only the messy sheets to show that someone had been there. "Our lord is not going to be pleased."

Like it was a premonition just then their dark marks started to burn, announcing Voldemort's return to the manor grounds.

Bellatrix covered the mark with her hand. "Come on. We must greet our lord after."

They ascended to the main floor. When they entered the drawing room the dark lord was sitting in a large throne like chair petting his snake Nagina. They all shifted awkwardly. No one wanted to be the one to inform the Dark Lord what had happened first.

"Has something happened while I was away?" Lord Voldemort inquired with narrowed eyes. Picking up on their nervous body language.

"My lord, we had Harry Potter in our clutches but Avery lost him somehow." Bellatrix bowed as she addressed her lord.

"What?!" Voldemort stood up from his throne in fury.

The group of death eaters backed up, wanting some distance between them and the dark lord. Bellatrix stayed where she was with a smirk in knowing she wasn't the one at fault. Avery cowered since his name had been mentioned, especially when the Dark Lord turned his gaze on him.

From his position behind the dark lord, Lucius looked at all the houses occupants who had gathered and didn't see the distinct pale hair family trait amongst them. "Where is my son?" He asked with a furrowed brow.

"Malfoy Jr. was also in the cell." Avery admitted nervously.

"Why?" Lucius growled. His wife clutched his hand to remind him to keep his temper. They did not have enough leeway anymore to order others around since they had fallen out of favor.

"What happened?" Voldemort growled menacing at Wormtail. He knew the man considered himself his most loyal follower so he would get the truth.

"I don't know." Pettigrew dropped to his knees and began to plead pathetically. "It wasn't my fault. They were already gone when they opened the cell."

"Oh, get up." Bellatrix kicked the pathetic man in the side on her way by. "Potter snuck into the manor while you were out. I managed to discover his presence. My nephew knocked me out just as I was about to kill Potter." She started to explain to her lord.

"For a good reason too." Voldemort seethed as he looked in disappointment at one of his best death eaters. Bellatrix realized her mistake now after the fact. "I told you Potter is mine." Voldemort snapped with venom in his tone.

"I'm deeply sorry my lord. I forgot myself in the heat of the moment." Bellatrix apologized genuinely. She berated herself for almost taking away the pleasure of killing the boy himself from her lord. "Will you forgive me?"

"The Malfoy boy stopped you in the nick of time luckily." Voldemort sat back in his throne contemplating. "As punishment, I'm putting you in charge of finding Potter once more. Don't fail me." Bellatrix bowed and stepped back accepting her mission graciously. She was lucky to escape without physical punishment.

"I want a proper explanation of how did Potter escape from his locked cell?" Voldemort hissed with frustration with his minions.

Bellatrix turned accusing eyes on Lucius, whose face paled. "Your son must have helped Potter escape somehow." She tried to point her finger away from herself.

"You said Draco was also in the cell." Lucius pointed out the fault in the accusation. "You took both their wands didn't you?"

"Yes." Avery reached into his robe pocket. He held up the two teen's wands. "I have them right here."

"You mean you put my son in a cell with Harry Potter without a wand, unsupervised?" Lucius snapped at the man's idiocy. "You know that boy has ways of slipping through cracks. Let me see those." He snatched the wands fervently. 't as defiantly his son's wand Lucius thought as he examined it.

Holding Potter's wand in front of him next Lucius furrowed his brow. Something seemed off about it. He flicked the wand and it wilted then became a bouquet of flowers. Lucius threw the flowers to the ground and stepped on them with the heel of his shoe. "You stupid idiot! You only confiscated one of the Weasley twin's stupid pranks."

"Harry Potter still had his wand while my son was defenseless." Narcissa gasped with clear worry in her voice.

"No doubt Potter took my son for the information he might have overheard." Lucius stated out loud with speculation.

"Mercy, my lord." Avery dropped to his knees immediately when he realized the huge mistake he had made. He would pay for dearly.

"You let Harry Potter escape and take one of my followers with him as a captive." Voldemort locked his narrowed eyes on Avery. His wand was suddenly in his hands.

Lucius sighed in relief. He had managed to convince them his son had been forced to go while he knew it was probably completely willing. Draco would have jumped at the chance to get out of here and he didn't blame him.

He watched blankly as the dark lord put Avery under the Cruciatus Curse once again.

**...^.0.^...**

They landed heavily in the entrance hall.

"Blood-Traitors! Muggle-lovers and mudbloods, defile the house of my ancestors!" Was the first thing Draco heard as the elf deposited them heavily in some unknown place. Letting off a low groan of pain as he peeled himself off the dirty floor boards. He looked around curiously at his new surroundings. It was a definite improvement from the dungeons at the manor but not by much.

"Who the hell is that?" Draco asked since the screeching hadn't stopped yet. Potter climbed to his own feet and then walked over towards the stairs and closed a small set of curtains and the noise instantly stopped. Spotting the mounted house elf heads Draco cringed. "What sort of psychopath lives here?" He asked himself out loud.

"We'll it used to be your Great Aunt Walburga's house but when Sirius Black died he left it to me." Looking around himself, Harry tried to see what the Slytherin was seeing. Over the past two years he had become desensitized to the house. "Haven't really had the chance to redecorate yet."

"This, is the Great House of Black?" Draco asked astonished. His mother had mentioned visiting the ancestral home of her family in her child hood. The house had been lost to the family once her aunt had passed away though."There is nothing great about, this." Draco claimed as he wrinkled his nose in disgust at the dirty out of date interior.

"Harry!" Ron called as he ran into the room. He had been waiting anxiously for his friends return, when he heard the portrait start yelling his heart had soared in relief. His eyes widened when he spotted the very familiar slender form of Draco Malfoy standing in the entrance hall. "What the fuck is he doing here?" He pointed at the Slytherin.

"I'll explain later." Harry sighed, not wanting to get into a fight right now. It had been a very long day already and he was sure it wasn't even past four in the afternoon. He was sure it was tea time somewhere. It had taken a lot less time at the manor than he thought it would originally.

"I want an explanation now." Ron demanding with his hands on his hips, that was very similar to Hermione. They had been spending so much time together lately that they had started to pick up each other's habits.

"I wouldn't mind one too." Draco exclaimed with a furrowed brow. He was confused with how he ended up here with these people. "You totally screwed up your plan so you decided to wing it or something?"

"My plan turned out perfect." Harry stated confidently. Even if they had a few snags everything had turned out all right in the end. As long as they all had gotten out in one piece, with the locket; Harry considered it a complete success. Even if he did bring Malfoy back with them which had definitely not been part of the plan at all."With a little improvisation at least."

"What about our wands?" Draco snapped with his hand on his hips. It was a relief to be away from the manor and all that inhabited it currently. What confused him was why Potter agreed to take him away from it all.

"Well mine was never actually confiscated." Harry knelled down and pushed up his left pant leg revealing his wands location tucked into the elastic of his sock. At the last minute he had ended up grabbing one of the deco-wands that the twins had given him just in case. He had a feeling he was going to be needing it.

"That is great for you." Draco exclaimed sardonically since it did him no good. His wand was actually gone. "So what, I'm just supposed to remain wand-less." He snapped nervously. Ever since his eleventh birthday he had never gone anywhere without his wand. Knowing it had been their if anything should gone wrong was comforting.

"Works for me." Ron stated, grabbing the Slytherin by the arm and dragging him up the stairs.

"Unhand me." Draco complained, struggling in the red heads grip. The Weasel had a far height on him. He used his size to force him to move. Almost tripping on the stairs Draco stopped struggling, since his Slytherin self preservation had kicked in.

"Ron, he isn't our prisoner." Harry called after his friend who ignored him. "Dam." He ran after them to make sure that they didn't hurt each other.

Once they got to the top of the stairs Malfoy started to struggle to get away. Ron looked around and found the door to one of the bedrooms open. Dragging Malfoy over he threw the blonde in and slammed the door behind him. Flicking his wand he locked the door. The Slytherin should be secure in there till they figure out what to do with the git.

There were some bangs as the Slytherin demanded to be released. Ron ignored the blonde's pleas and turned on his heel away. He headed in the direction of the library.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry asked following in the red heads footsteps. He had paused outside the door and debated letting the Slytherin out but he decided to leave it for now. Malfoy should be fine for a little while they sorted this all out.

"Yes I think it really was." Ron snapped as he pushed the library door open and stormed in. He knew this is where he would find Hermione. Stomping to a chair he collapsed in one of the ancient chairs that creaked under his weight.

Hermione looked up from the book she had been reading. "Oh thank god you're all right." She exclaimed in relief when she saw Harry standing in the doorway still in one piece. Climbing to her feet she threw a hug around her best friend.

Harry hugged her back. He knew his absence must have disturbed her greatly. Her brain must have been thinking up all the awful situation he must have got in. Looking over Hermione's shoulder he met Ron glaring eyes.

When Hermione released Harry from her grip she could feel tension in the air between the two best friends. This should be a happy occasion but something must have happened for Ron to be so angry. "Something wrong?"

"What the hell were you thinking mate? Bringing Malfoy here." Ron asked with clenched teeth.

"You did what?!" Hermione whipped back around, turning wide eyes on her best friend.

"I couldn't just leave him there. Bellatrix had me cornered and was half way through pronouncing the killing curse when Malfoy knocked her out. Without him I'd be dead." Harry explained.

"You shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place." Hermione screeched in alarm. "You should have been more careful." She had been so worried once he had left their sight. Harry had always been too impulsive.

"How was your presence detected?" Ron asked with narrowed eyes.

"Malfoy was being cornered by another death eater and I knocked him out with a stunner, but Bellatrix saw the direction the spell had come from." Harry started to explain. He realized his huge mistake now. Of not checking to see if anyone was around to observe him. Spells did not just come from thin air. It was only logical that Bellatrix would think that someone if there.

"So basically to save Draco Malfoy you blew your cover." Ron asked with tense shoulders. "What the hell were you thinking mate?"

"I know." Harry sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I think that vision I had the other night was affecting my judgment in the situation." The image of Malfoy screaming in pain was still strong in his mind.

"It's too late now. There's nothing we can do since Malfoy is already here." Hermione sighed in defeat. " What are we going to do with him?"

"I'm not sure yet." Harry shrugged at the question. It had been a split second decision to take Malfoy with him. There was an impulse to get Malfoy as far away from the Manor as he could.

"I don't like him being here." Ron his hissed with displeasure.

"Too bad. You're just going to have to deal with it." Harry snapped back since his temper was getting heated. He sat back with his eyes closed to try and calm down. They all sat in a tense silence.

"Wait you said that Malfoy saved your life right?" Ron asked suddenly to clarify if he heard right. Harry nodded to confirm. "That means you owe him a life dept now." He sighed with displeasure at the situation.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked confused.

"In the wizarding world when someone saves your life who isn't a friend or family member you owe them a life dept." Hermione explained the text book definition. Realizing that Ron was right she let out a deep sigh herself since this just complicated things even more.

"Right, I've heard something about them before." Harry scrunched his forehead in thought trying to remember. "Remus mentioned once that Snape owed my father one when he saved him from Remus as a werewolf after Sirius tricked him."

"Since your father died though before Snape could fulfill it, the dept has passed down to you." Hermione cupped her hands over his.

"Do you think we could use that in the future?" Harry contemplated the pros of having that over the potion master.

"I don't know. Maybe." Hermione sighed rubbing a hand through his hair. "But you do owe Malfoy one too."

"Does getting Malfoy away from his crazy aunt before she could get her revenge count?" Harry sat back with a sigh.

"I don't think so. Any way the dept has to be acknowledged that it has been fulfilled." Ron explained further.

"Well think on that matter later. We need to figure out what we're going to do with Malfoy right now." Hermione implored them to get back to the main problem. "Is he staying as a prisoner or a potential alley? Are we giving Malfoy to the Order? There is a price on his head if you remember."

"You're right." Harry nodded in understanding. "As for your questions, it all depends on Malfoy's answers I guess."

"Interrogation?" Ron asked perking up with excitement in his tone. He had always wanted the chance to play good auror bad auror.

"Interrogation." Harry nodded with a sigh. Hopefully this didn't turn into a complete disaster.

^.0.^

They all walked over to where Malfoy was locked in earlier. Ron flicked his wand and unlocked the door. When they entered Malfoy was standing in the middle of the room not touching anything. Harry didn't blame the Slytherin because everything was covered in a layer of dust.

"Sit down." Ron indicated to a chair he had pulled into the middle of the room. Malfoy turned his nose up at it, waiting for a scourgify charm to be cast on it. Ron completely ignored this request and pushed the Slytherin into it anyway

"What is going on." Draco asked, examining what he would consider his three captors till further notice. It was hard to read what his position in the house was. While he had been being dragged up the stairs he swore he had heard Potter yell he, wasn't, their prisoner. Weasley's actions made him think differently.

"I don't trust you one bit." Ron snapped as he stood to his full rather impressive height. "I want to know why you are actually here?" He demanded looking intently down at the Slytherin as he paced back and force.

"Calm down Ron. Malfoy saved me-" Harry placed himself between his friend and their school nemesis. He looked at his friend with a look that said behave. "But I see your point. How do we know we can trust him?"

"I wish we had some veritaserum." Ron grumbled crossing his arms as he came to a stop.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Hermione stood up and left the room. When she returned a short while later she was holding a small bottle with clear liquid in it.

"Brilliant." Ron smiled brightly immediately figuring out what it was.

"You offered." Harry shrugged noticing the paling of the Slytherin's face as he eyed the liquid warily.

"I don't want to." Draco crossed his arms distrustfully. Defiantly he clamped his lips together.

"Do you want us to turn you over to the Ministry?" Harry asked threateningly. He had no intention of actually doing it. Harry had suspicions that the Ministry of Magic was just a front now under Voldemort's control. If he turned Malfoy over now he would just turn back up at the Malfoy Manor in a worse situation than he had already found himself in.

"Of course not." Draco shook his head. One of the reasons he hadn't left the manor all summer was because of the bounty on his head. If he was brought in to the ministry they would make a public example of.

"Then corroborate." Harry took the bottle from Hermione's hand . Stalking over he placed it against the blonde's lips.

Draco reluctantly held his mouth open so three drops could be placed on his tong. He closed his mouth and smacked his lips together. It was hard to tell if it was taking effect yet since he had never had veritaserum before. The potion had no taste to it.

"What's your full name?" Harry asked starting out with the normal opening questions. He was going to treat this as close to any of the auror interrogations Harry had been subjected to himself as he was capable of.

"Draco Lucius Oberon Malfoy-Black" Draco answered easily since it wasn't a very evasive question.

"Are you a vir-" Ron started to ask for entertainment. Hermione slapped Ron on the chest before he could finish the sentence. They all knew what he had been trying to ask. Before they had started they had all agreed no personal questions. It was a complete abuse of power on their end if they aloud it.

"Have you performed any others tasks for Voldemort like you did last year?" Harry asked inquiringly.

Draco shook his head as he answered. "Other than managing to fix the vanishing cabinet I failed the original task set out for me. I couldn't complete the other half as you know." He shifted uncomfortably under their harsh stares. Not killing the headmaster in the end had not gained him much favor with the trio he could tell, It was because he had actually tried in the beginning. "I don't have enough favor to be trusted to complete anything."

Harry nodded in understanding at the answer. He had figured as much from the feelings he picked p from his vision. Draco was being kept around to be used against his parents and that was it. Malfoy had been second in school to Hermione for marks so they must have found some use for him. "What is your current roll under Voldemort?"

"I help Severus make potions." Draco knew if his godfather hadn't pulled some strings he would have ended up with a much worse position. His parents word held no sway anymore. Severus still held a high position in the ranks so had some power to sway things in his favor.

"That's all?" Ron snapped suspiciously.

"I'm forced to go to the meetings too." Draco tried to explain what his position was. It didn't seem that he served any purpose but to be pushed around by the older death eaters. "Other than that I try to stay out of everyone's way."

"You're present at all the current meetings." Harry asked catching onto that fact. Malfoy must know a lot of the current activity then. It could come in se later.

"Yes." Draco replied with a shiver at the memory of the last meeting he had attended. He tried to block the memory from his mind.

"One final question for now." Harry exclaimed, the blonde nodded for him to continue. "Are you still loyal to the Dark Lord?" Harry inquired intently.

"No." Draco shook his head adamantly. "I never really was. I was just doing what he wanted because he said he'd kill my parents it I didn't."

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Ron asked his two friends. Whenever the Slytherin opened his mouth all he ever heard was lies.

"I don't know." Hermione shrugged with a mischievous quirk of her lips. It was similar to the Mona Lisa smile; like she knew something they all didn't.

"Of course I was telling the truth. I was on veritaserum." Draco snapped in a surly manner at their disbelief in him even under truth serum.

"It was actually just water." Hermione smirked as she held up the bottle and drank the rest of it.

"What?!" Draco snapped bitterly in humiliation.

"We don't just have bottles of truth serum hanging around." Hermione rolled her eyes at his gullibility. "I found an empty potion vile and filled it with tap water."

Draco blushed deeply in mortification. He had truly thought he'd been under the influence of veritaserum. His arrogant ego had taken a hit.

Harry stepped forward to look in his eyes to judge his sincerity. Malfoy stared right back not averting his eyes for a second. "I think he's telling the truth."

"You do." Draco said surprised by Potter's leap of faith. They had never got along so why was he speaking up for him.

Harry had to hide his smirk of amusement at the look of confusion on Malfoy's face behind his hand. "We'll set you up in one of the bedrooms. We'll figure out what we're going to do with you later." Harry sighed tiredly as his eyes drooped. "I'll set you up in a better room than, well this." he gestured around to the dismal bed room.

"Please." Draco exclaimed with a sneer on his face as he looked at the rundown space. If he was forced to stay in this dingy room for the foreseeable future he would most likely end up killing himself.

"Make sure it has a lock." Ron exclaimed spitefully with his arms cross as he glowered at the blonde. "We don't want the snake wandering around the house while we're asleep."

"Ron, be nice." Harry admonished his friend. He had made a decision of where to put Malfoy about contemplating all the available rooms in Grimmauld Place. He had decided on Regulus's old room since it had a green colour scheme that was reminiscent of the Slytherin dorm rooms. Also it was right next to his own so he would be able to keep a close eye on Malfoy.

"I also need a change of clothes." Draco pointed out. He had been spirited away without a chance to grab anything. He actually had a bag packed for emergencies but had not had the chance to go back to his room to fetch it. "I'm not sure which one of your wardrobes is the lesser evil."

"You're not touching any of my stuff." Ron immediately announced.

"Right. You can borrow some of mine," Harry volunteered standing up from the chair. "Follow me." Leading the blonde to Sirius's room. He hadn't changed much about it the interior. He noticed Malfoy's look of unease that everything was still in the trunk, instead of in the clearly empty closet.

"I never bothered to unpack. You never know when we're going to have to flee." Harry explained why he kept his clothes this way. Opening the lid he gathered the map and invisibility cloak in his arms since he didn't want them to be discovered yet. Standing up he gestured to the rest of the contents. "You can take your pick."

Leaning down Draco searched through the selection of clothes. His suspicions were confirmed that Potter had no fashion sense. A lot of the clothes looked like they had been worn so many times that they had holes in them or that they were so big that they would swamp his lean body.

"I'll just be down stairs." Harry announced as he walked towards the door, giving Malfoy some privacy so he could change. The blonde waved him off as he continued to ruffle through his trunk.

Draco got the feeling like none of these clothes were actually bought for Potter himself but for someone else. 'Is this what people called handy-downs?' Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought. When people didn't have enough money to buy new clothes they inherited others garments. He was glad he never had to experience that before.

Now here he was begging for clothes off someone else himself. There must be something worthwhile in here. Draco sighed as he selected some newer looking clothes. It wasn't saying much considered he suspected they were still a few years old already.

**^. .^**

Harry was walking down the hall when he remembered something. Ducking into the bathroom he retrieved the first aid kit from under the sink. He had a feeling that the blonde had not had a chance to get the wound seen to.

Draco jumped in surprise when Potter was suddenly in the room again. He had just been about to start changing. Luckily it hadn't been a few seconds later or he would have caught him mid strip. "What now?" He snapped in irritation.

"Take off your shirt so that I can dress your wound." Harry instructed holding up the first aid kit.

Draco tensed up when his injury was suddenly brought up. He hadn't been moving stiffly giving himself away had he. "How the hell do you know about that?" He glared suspiciously at the Gryffindor.

Harry rubbed at his temple. "I know this sounds crazy but I have visions sometimes…"

"Visions. Like Trelawney?" Draco scoffed not expecting divination to be brought up.

"No, not like Trelawney. Just take your shirt off." Harry snapped stomping over. Malfoy found himself following the command since there was so much power behind it. He started to undo the buttons on his shirt. "I have a mental connection with the Voldemort so sometimes I can see things."

Draco froze when he heard that information. "You don't mean, you saw…?" It was a situation that he didn't want anyone to hear about let alone mentally witness it.

"Yes I did. I didn't really have a choice in the matter." Harry stammered under the cool stare. "It only happens when Voldemort is experiencing a strong emotion."

"What was the Dark Lord experiencing?" Draco asked as he tugged the rest of his top off. When his naked skin was revealed to the cool air he shivered.

"Pleasure." Harry answered finally looking up from his feet. He blushed when he realized that Malfoy had finished undressing. Not being able to help it he glance at Slytherin's left arm. There was a bandage covering where he swore the mark was.

Draco turned around and presented his back for two reasons; one was so that Potter could reach the wound and the other was so that he didn't have to look into those green eyes. Draco could feel the brunets stare on his arm, he chose to ignore it.

Harry looked at the clean gash on the pale shoulder blade intriguingly. It was strange to see something in his mind and then to see proof that it actually happened. The slash was across the left shoulder blade. Fishing around in the first aid kit he retrieved what he would need to dress the wound. Pouring some rubbing alcohol on a cloth, he pressed it against the open wound.

"Fuck." Draco hissed in pain arching his back. He flinched away from Potter's touch and glared at the damp cloth in his hand suspiciously. "What the hell is that stuff. It burns like fuck."

"Don't be such a baby. It's disinfectant so you don't get an infection." Harry snapped at the Slytherin's whining. He remembered how low the blonde's tolerance for pain was like in school. At least that broke the somber mood they had fallen into.

"Don't you have any healing potions?" Draco snapped over his shoulder.

"Muggle medicine is a bitch." Harry exclaimed as he placed a bandage over the wound. "There done." He started to pack the first aid kit away.

"I need a shower." Draco exclaimed feeling the grime and sweat on his skin. The dress shirt he had been wearing had streaks of dirt on it. Even if he did put on the clothes he picked out he wouldn't feel clean until he washed it all away.

Harry sighed and closed the first aid kit. "I'll show you where it is." They walked further down the hall. Once he had the first aid kit back under the sink he left Malfoy to his shower. "Come back down stairs when you're done." As soon as the door closed behind the blonde he returned down stairs.

**^.0.^**

It must have been a decade since this bathroom was last renovated Draco observed as he turned the dated knobs. The shower must be older than he was. Luckily it had been cleaned recently unlike the rest of the house though.

Taking off his dirty clothes he threw them into a pile by the sink. Putting his hand under the spray he checked the temperature. He wouldn't doubt that a house this old had an awful water temperature. Surprisingly it was a satisfactory temperature.

Climbing over the lip of the tub. Draco sighed in relief as he stood under the hot water. Grabbing a bar of soap he rubbed it across his clearly dirty skin and stepped back under. The water washed away all the dirt and grime that had collected on his skin. Showers had always made him feel better after a long day.

Looking at the small selection of bottles lining the edge. There were unfamiliar logos on two of them that must be muggle. The third was definitely Weasley's because it had a hand written label. Homemade most likely he deduced; it was automatically disqualified from the running of touching his hair. Out of the other two one had a flower on the label so he could guess what girl scent it was. In the end Draco selected a vanilla scented shampoo/ conditioner. Squeezing a small on the palm of his hand. Lathering it between his hands he spread it through the strands of his hair and messaged it into his scalp.

After he washed the suds out of his hair Draco just stood under the spray. He felt the constant tension that ha d been in his shoulders release. He would have stayed longer but the water already began to grow cool. Draco dried of with a thread bare towel when he exited he shower. He definitely wasn't in the Manor anymore. The whole house seemed rundown.

Looking through the cabinets Draco realized he was out of luck since none of them held any hair products. Coming across a comb with some broken teeth he shrugged figuring it would have to do. Out of the three people living here he doubted any of them even owned a hair brush. He ran it through his wet hair to prevent any knots developing when it dried.

Turning to the pile of clothes he had brought with him Draco sorted out the items. He would rather be in clean clothes even if they weren't up to his standards. He tugged Potter's clothes on. The sweater he had seen Potter in before hung loosely off his frame while it was snug on the Gryffindor.

Looking in the mirror it felt like a stranger was staring back at him. Draco didn't look like himself at all.

**^.0.^**

They all stopped talking when Malfoy walked into the kitchen wearing Harry's clothes. Not only was it not the Slytherins usual finery but he was wearing one of the jumpers Mrs. Weasley had made Harry for Christmas.

"What made you chose that?" Ron asked with a scrunched up nose. He knew Harry didn't have much to choose from but it wasn't what he would have chosen.

Shrugging, Draco looked down at the ratty jumper he was attired in. "It was the only thing green." He replied flatly. Truthfully he wasn't sure what had made him chose it. There had been lots of things without any logos on them. The token colour of his school house had spoken to him and the large_ H_ didn't repulse him completely.

"I think I have six of those in my trunk. One for every year I've known Ron." Harry knew there wasn't much variety or style in his clothes. It was either Dudley's handy downs that would swallow the blonde, school clothes, and the jumpers he was gifted.

"What?'" Draco wrinkled his nose in confusion. It was a habit Harry had noticed the blonde had. Whenever something didn't make sense he would make that expression.

"My mother knitted it." Ron explained with a shrug as he played with his cutlery .

Malfoy pinched the fabric away from his chest in reaction. He had to take his hands away from the jeans that he had been holding up by the belt loops. He was slenderer than Potter and the clothes were baggy even on him. "Do either of you have a belt?" Draco asked trying to keep the weird trousers on his hips that kept falling down. The elastic of the boxers he borrowed was on show. Luckily he didn't decide to go commando.

"They're called jeans." Harry exclaimed examining the blonde's appearance. It was weird to see Malfoy in every day muggle clothes. He'd only ever seen the Slytherin in wizard robes, his school uniform, or a suit. "I'll give you one later."

Draco walked over and sat by the only empty seat at the table which was beside Potter.

The blonde's hair was still wet so it had deepened to a golden colour from i's usual white blonde. Harry's nose picked up a familiar scent wafting over. "You used my shampoo."

"Who's else's was I supposed to use?" Malfoy tensed at the sudden comment.. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"No. It's fine." Harry secretly enjoyed the fact that the blonde smelled like him. It was something he would have to examine later when he was alone. Harry already had to hide the jolt of pleasure he had felt to have his initial on Malfoy's chest. It felt like a mark of owner ship.

Hermione's wand started to beep suddenly. "I just made something to eat." She put down her book and walked over to the stove to turn off the burner. Taking a packet in her hand she dumped the contents in then mixed it with a bit of milk.

When Granger returned she placed a bowl of bright orange pasta on the table. "It's unnaturally orange." Draco looked at the food suspiciously. Wrinkling his nose in distaste. "Muggle I'm guessing." They always liked to use food colouring to make things look more appealing.

"Yes, also American too." Hermione shrugged as she served the macaroni into four bowls.. She hadn't had a chance to buy food from more than a corner store yet. There wasn't a lot of healthy choices there. It was Kraft dinner or Chef Boyardee.

"Even worse." Draco mumbled as the bowl of food was placed in front of him. His stomach was turning too much, even if it was appealing he didn't think he could keep anything down. "I think I'd rather just go to bed." Pushing the bowl away.

"Your loss." Weasley exclaimed, immediately claiming the bowl for himself.

Draco stood up and looked down at Potter. He shot the brunet a look of exasperation when he didn't get his meaning immediately. "Room." Draco rolled his eyes at the confused expression before there was a look of realization that flashed across his face.

"Oh Right. I never got around to showing you which room was yours." Harry realized placing his food back on the table. He stood up to show the Slytherin to his room. Malfoy walked ahead of him like he knew where he was going.

Kreacher walked into the with a disgruntled expression just as they were exiting. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed his master's guest. "Master Malfoy!" The old Elf cried in glee. He bowed deeply with respect until his nose almost touched the ground. "It is an honor to have such a prestigious house guest."

Draco shrunk back into Potter's form to get away from the decrepit house elf. He was used to house elves because he had interacted with them all his life. This was the first time though that one had generally meant what they had said to him. It was very disconcerting to see actual respect shining in the bulbous eyes.

Harry sighed, he had forgotten about how Malfoy being of Black blood would affect the house elf's behavior. "I'm giving Malfoy Regulus's room, so could you change the sheets and clean it a little."

"Right away master." Kreacher bowed then there was a loud cracking noise as he apparated. The old elf didn't listen to him ever like that. Harry guessed that Kreacher wanted to impress Malfoy.

"You have a house elf?" Draco asked shocked that Granger would allow that. He had expected them to be on their own for cleaning and meals. Especially after the meal that Granger had just tried to serve them.

"Came with the house." Harry shrugged placing a hand on the small of the blonde's back to lead him to the stairs.

It didn't take long to make it to the top of the flight of stairs. They walked down the hall and stopped just passed the room he had been in earlier. Potter stopped in front of the next door over and pushed the door open, gesturing for him to enter. "I hope this is ok?"

Draco peered in curiously. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted the green curtains and Slytherin banner on the wall. The room had dark wooden walls and was centered around a four-poster bed that was a twin instead of the usual singles he was used to at school. Walking over he sat down on the mattress that was surprisingly soft. Suddenly feeling completely exhausted from the events of the day he laid back on top of the black comforter.

Looking around the room Harry examined the state of the room. All the dust from disuse was gone and the sheets seemed clean. Kreacher was fast when he wanted to be. Harry noticed how a lot of the knick knacks were missing from the shelves which didn't surprise him. Even if Malfoy was Kreacher's new favorite person, he would want him touching his ex-masters things.

"Well you know where the bathroom is." Harry shifted uncomfortably in the doorway. Malfoy had already spread himself over the sheets and his eyes were closed. It looked like he was seconds away from drifting off to sleep.

"If you need anything I'll be right next door. Goodnight." Harry excused himself. Malfoy only mumbled in response. His breathing had already started to grow deep. He closed the door and then stood in the hall staring at it. 'What had he done.' Harry shook his head at his own actions that day.

It was hard to tell what repercussions would happen in the future from having Malfoy along for the ride.

**^._.^ **

**...TBC**


End file.
